Grand Theft Auto 6 Is ‘In Early Development’

The world of video gaming has a lot to thank the Grand Theft Auto franchise for and in general, Rockstar have played a pretty big role in making modern gaming what it is today.

Who would have thought that something – or somethings – so good could come from a company with such a lame name. Rockstar? Really? That’s what children’s T-shirts say at, like, GAP.

Anyway, while I’m apparently going to be kept waiting indefinitely for L.A. Noire 2, Rockstar are now focusing their attentions on the upcoming (sort-of) GTA 6.

According to gaming website Kokatu, the next instalment in the series is in ‘early development’.

They spoke to 15 people who either work at the developer or left within the last year as part of an investigation into how Rockstar is improving its culture following reports of significant crunch at the studio—and it came away with some interesting information regarding Grand Theft Auto 6.

Sources told Kotaku that the next GTA game will “start out with a moderately sized release that is then expanded with regular updates over time.”

This means the game will release as a “games as a service” base experience that is then fleshed out with updates.

Jason Schreier, who wrote the article on the news, tweeted: “The next GTA is still a ways away, so it’ll be a while before we see whether the company’s attempts to mitigate crunch are really successful, but in the last year Rockstar has made several quality-of-life improvements and replaced managers that staff described as toxic.”

The next GTA is still a ways away, so it'll be a while before we see whether the company's attempts to mitigate crunch are really successful, but in the last year Rockstar has made several quality-of-life improvements and replaced managers that staff described as toxic.

Moreover, top executive Jennifer Kolbe, who works at Rockstar, sent an email out to staff, with some of it reading:

“In these last several months we have undertaken a lot of work across every area of the company, looking at our processes to determine what works and what doesn’t, what we are great at and what we could improve.

“We hope that the majority of you have felt some of these positive changes already and those that haven’t soon will.”

“We have taken conscious steps to improve our approach to developing games in order to reduce the need for overtime.

“We realise we still have plenty to do in this area and will continue to take steps so we can more accurately predict and schedule games and DLC in a way that is more sustainable but still allows us the creative flexibility to iterate on the incredibly ambitious and complex games we make.”

Originally released for PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2013 before launching for current-gen consoles and PC, Grand Theft Auto V is reportedly the highest-grossing media title of all time, having brought in over $6 billion.